Lonely Frog and His Beautiful Wife African Folklore Short Story
Short Story of love found and love lost
A
lonely frog had some difficulty in finding a wife, at last, carved the trunk of
a tree into the shape of a woman and placed cowry shells in the spot where her
heart should be and this brought her to life. Frog named her Ayo since she was
very beautiful pledged his undying love to her daily.
Frog
married her and they lived happily in his home deep in the forest, until one day
in his absence, some of the chief's men happened to pass by and saw the
beautiful Ayo working outside in the garden.
They asked for fire and water, which she gave them, and on their return told the chief about a beautiful woman living deep in the forest.
They asked for fire and water, which she gave them, and on their return told the chief about a beautiful woman living deep in the forest.
The
chief shortly afterward sent the men back to frogs’ house, and they, finding
the husband again absent, carried Ayo off.
She cried out, "Husband! I am
being taken away!" but there was none to hear, and when the husband came back,
he found her gone.
Frog
tried desperately to get his wife back from the chief and when these rescue attempts
failed he sent a pigeon and told her to bring back the cowry shells from his
wife, but pigeon could not get into the village. He sent the pigeon again, and
this time she brought the shells back to the frog.
As
soon as the cowry shells were taken out of the beautiful Ayo, she died and was
changed back to a block of wood. The frog was once again lonely and now heartbroken
losing his beautiful Ayo.
